Carter-Ripley County MO Archives Biographies.....Webb JR., Johnathan 1821 - October 21, 1862
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Dee Dee Webb Sparks http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00021.html#0005108 May 24, 2007, 2:26 pm
Author: H. Ted Woods
John Webb Settles on Little Black
.....The first Webb by name to emigrate to the southeastern section of Missouri
is thought to have been a John Webb who settled in what was then Ripley County,
now a part of Carter County.*(1)
.....This John Webb, according to the 1860 federal census records, was born in
Tennessee, supposedly in what is called the Tennessee-Kentucky Valley. What
year he arrived is questionable. One story has it that he and his family left
Tennessee in a wagon train bound for California during the Gold Rush which
started in 1849. However, the 1860 census lists John Webb at the head of the
household at the age 40, along with his wife, Susan Wells, also born in
Tennessee and eight children, all born in Missouri.(*2)
.....The oldest of the children was Margaret Louisia Webb, who later married
Rev. Sanford W. Smelzer (1832-1904). She was listed as being 16 years of age in
the 1860 census, which would make her birth being in 1844. She, along with her
brother, Eli Webb, two years her junior, was first thought to have been born
along the way after the wagon train had crossed the Mississippi River().
However, this was discounted in the May 9, 1912, issue of the Current Local,
published in Van Buren, in the obituary of Isaac (Ike) Webb, the seventh child
of John Webb, who was killed by a cyclone that came through that section of
Missouri that year. The death notice was written by an older brother, Frank P.
Webb, who stated that his younger brother and his family lived on the old home
place "where we all were born and reared and where our parents saw their last
days."
.....Another legend has it that in the wagon train were also Mr. Webb's father,
whose name none of his descendants of today seem to be able to recall but was
thought to be Jonathan Webb, as well as a brother and a brother of his wife and
his family. The wagon train got as far as Ripley County when his horses got
loose and ran away. He started out after them, being forced to go back once
again to Tennessee. The trip took longer than he expected. When he returned,
his father had died and his brother and other members of the wagon train had
already set out for California expecting him to follow. They got as far as Webb
City and decided to settle there and that city is said to have been named for
the family.*3
.....In the meantime, John Webb and wife liked the country they saw and decided
to settle on Little Black where he prospered. By the time the Civil War started
his estate was considered quite large, owning land on Little Black as well as
on Current River, a few miles west of where the community of Hunter stands. He
was the envy of many in that sparsely settled section and thought ultimately to
have been the cause of his death. Like other men residing just south of the
Mason and Dixon line, he joined the Confederate forces. During October 1862 he
was on leave from the army when several men, some said to have been natives of
the area, came to his home. Mr. Webb had been gone for several days, being on
business at the home of Jaunce Waller on Current River, but had returned the
night before. Quite a snow had fallen and it was extremely cold.
.....The men turned out to be Jay hawkers (4)* known scouring the nearby
countryside. Mrs. Webb saw them when they were a short distance away. She
informed her husband, who went out between the house and the kitchen and
attempted a shot, but his gun snapped. He then ran for his horse which he
always kept tied in the brush behind the house, but he was shot down. Eight
shots were fired at him and he lived only a few minutes. It is said that the
men killed him because he had killed a man by the name of Broadenstein, but
that was only an excuse, since it was known that Broadenstein was slain by
another man, not Mr. Webb
.....According to the story handed down, after Mr. Webb was shot and before he
had breathed his last, one of the Jay hawkers dismounted from his horse and
attempted to take his coat from his back, but his 13 year-old daughter, Nancy
Webb, who later became the wife of John Richmond, got over her father and
fought the man off. The identity of this particular man, who is said to have
been the leader of the band, was known to the family. This is said to have
almost cost him his life in later years, and certainly caused his sudden
departure from the newly created Carter County.
.....John Webb had four sons at the time he was murdered on the morning of
October 10, 1862, the oldest, Eli Webb, being only 16 years of age. The second
son, James Webb, was ten, Franklin Pierce Webb was eight, and the youngest, Ike
Webb, was only six. It is handed down that no attempt was made to avenge the
death of their father until all the boys were grown. As one of the men who
actually was implicated in the act had been identified at the time the father
was killed, several years went by, but sometime in the early 1880's or slightly
before, the oldest and two youngest boys got together and drew straws to decide
who would avenge his murder. The lot is said to have fell on Frank Webb.( only
8 yrs of age)
.....It was well known that the three men were expert marksmen, but the first
and only attempt was foiled when the bullet from his rifle hit a cornstalk in
the field where the intended victim was plowing, deflecting but creased the
man's temple, knocking him to the ground. Mr. Webb never got another chance.
The victim is said to have left the country quickly being hid away in the bed
of a wagon and taken out of the country.
.....John Webb and wife liked the country they saw and decided to settle on
Little Black where he prospered. By the time the Civil War started his estate
was considered quite large, owning land on Little Black as well as on Current
River, a few miles west of where the community of Hunter stands. He was the
envy of many in that sparsely settled section and thought ultimately to have
been the cause of his death. Like other men residing just south of the Mason
and Dixon line, he joined the Confederate forces. During October 1862 he was on
leave from the army when several men, some said to have been natives of the
area, came to his home. Mr. Webb had been gone for several days, being on
business at the home of Jaunce Waller on Current River, but had returned the
night before. Quite a snow had fallen and it was extremely cold.
.....The men turned out to be Jay hawkeers(*4A) led by a man claiming to be a
Deputy U.S. Marshal, a band that had been known scouring the nearby
countryside. Mrs. Webb saw them when they were a short distance away. She
informed her husband, who went out between the house and the kitchen and
attempted a shot, but his gun snapped. He then ran for his horse which he
always kept tied in the brush behind the house, but he was shot down. Eight
shots were fired at him and he lived only a few minutes. It is said that the
men killed him because he had killed a man by the name of Broadenstein, but
that was only an excuse, since it was known that Broadenstein was slain by
another man, not Mr. Webb
.....According to the story handed down, after Mr. Webb was shot and before he
had breathed his last, one of the Jay hawkers dismounted from his horse and
attempted to take his coat from his back, but his 13 year-old daughter, Nancy
Webb, who later became the wife of John Richmond, got over her father and
fought the man off. The identity of this particular man, who is said to have
been the leader of the band, was known to the family. This is said to have
almost cost him his life in later years, and certainly caused his sudden
departure from the newly created Carter County.
.....John Webb had four sons at the time he was murdered on the morning of
October 10, 1862, the oldest, Eli Webb, being only 16 years of age. The second
son, James Webb, was ten, Franklin Pierce Webb was eight, and the youngest, Ike
Webb, was only six. It is handed down that no attempt was made to avenge the
death of their father until all the boys were grown. As one of the men who
actually was implicated in the act had been identified at the time the father
was killed, several years went by, but sometime in the early 1880's or slightly
before, the oldest and two youngest boys got together and drew straws to decide
who would avenge his murder. The lot is said to have fell on Frank Webb(5)*
.....It was well known that the three men were expert marksmen, but the first
and only attempt was foiled when the bullet from his rifle hit a cornstalk in
the field where the intended victim was plowing, deflecting but creased the
man's temple, knocking him to the ground. Mr. Webb never got another chance.
The victim is said to have left the country quickly being hid away in the bed
of a wagon and taken out of the country.
Source: Ozark Graphic Weekly, February, 1974, Page 7 by H. Ted Woods
1848 Aug 1, John Webb (Jr). Scalp Bounty. Ripley County , MO.
1850 Ripley County , MO. Census
# 74 WEBB, John ( JR) age 29, b. TN.
Susan Webb, 28 B. TN.
Margaret 7, b. Mo.
Nancy 6, b. MO.
Elizabeth 8/12 b. MO.
1852 June 21.Ripley county MO. Wolf Scalps > John Webb (Jr.)
Additional Comments:
(1)Dee's notes John Webb Jr. moved to Ripley county MO. from Marion Co., TN
between 1840 and 1847 In 1848 John Webb (Jr.) Scalp bounty in Ripley county
MO.
(2) 1850 Ripley County Census has John Webb (Jr.) children born in MO.
First Daughter Born in 1843 Ripley Co. MO.
(3)*.Webb City is name after the Webbs of Overton County TN. We know now from
DNA that John Webb Jr DNA Did not Match THE WEBB'S of WEBB City MO.
*(4) Bushwhackers- North : Note Jayhawkers
*(5) Franklin Peirce Webb was only 8 Years of age.
*(6)
File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mo/carter/bios/webbjr67gbs.txt
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